St Kilda Saints

AFLX Round 2 kicked off this evening in Melbourne. The live testing and tweaking of the 7-a-side format continues with the AFL announcing today the will drop the novelty silver footballs used in all but the last three matches of Thursday night's Round 1 at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. The remaining AFLX matches will use the more traditional yellow ball used for AFL matches played under lights.

At the conclusion of Round 23, four more players announced that 2017 would be their last season: veteran Cat defenders Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan, Kangaroo Lachie Hansen and Kangaroo veteran turned West Coast rookie Drew Petrie. The Cats and Eagles still have a finals campaign to navigate in September.A few days later, Saint stalwart Leigh Montagna also announced his retirement.

The Saint Kilda Saints boosted their finals hopes by grinding out a determined four quarter effort to defeat the Fremantle Dockers. It was the first time in six attempts that the Saints have won at Domain Stadium and the win will give the Saints belief they have the goods to remain in the in the top eight.

There can be many descriptions of Lou Richards - a cheeky rover, a larrikin, a wit never lost for words, a media star and clown, a gentleman who always was happy to have a chat. Richards, 94, passed away quietly in his sleep in the nursing home where he resided on May 8. Some say he was one of first superstars of Australian Football, which was the VFL during his playing career. For most fans, it is the media work for which he is best known

In a closely fought match, the Saints gradually took over and eventually wont by 14 points, keeping their season alive in Round 4 of the AFL. For Collingwood, it looks increasingly grim.

The first quarter of the Easter Sunday clash was tight, played around the boundaries and peppered with inaccuracy despite being under the closed roof. It started off with more promise though as Travis Varcoe's clever little checkside kick on the run found Fasolo on a better angle. Fasolo ran around to improve the angle a little more and kicked Collingwood's first. Misses from set shots by Moore, Greenwood and Pendlebury meant the Magpies missed an opportunity to take the game away from the Saints early.

St Kilda, desperate to atone for their loss to the Melbourne Demons the previous week, led the West Coast Eagles at Domain Stadium until time-on in the final quarter, but it was not enough. On a warm and still Perth night, the Saints’ hard running players ran themselves into the ground on the vast expanses of the Eagles’ home turf. In the final stanza, with both teams nearing exhaustion, it was the class and superior finishing of the Eagles that punished the Saints.

While many will remember Mike Fitzpatrick fondly for all the positives he accomplished during his time as chairman, there are some who are not so happy. At the announcement of his retirement from the AFL Commission, Fitzpatrick said of the Essendon saga, "I think it was a really difficult issue, what happened was difficult, it should never have happened. But I am totally comfortable with the way we dealt with it ... I felt – as different events unfolded – the commission and the AFL dealt with them as they came, dealt with them under their processes ... ".

The Swiss Court For Arbitration in Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the 34 former and current Essendon players. The player were initially cleared by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, but WADA's appeal to CAS overturned that verdict and the players then launched their appeal against the banishment. With the penalty backdated to account for procedural delays, the players were effectively ruled out of the entire 2016 season.